The Absence of Light
by overxthexedge
Summary: “You know, I really shouldn’t be drinking this.” Ginny sighed. Draco rolled his eyes and sneered, “Live a little Weasley.” Ginny glared at him as he took another shot. DxG
1. Chapter 1

**The Absence of Light**

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine.**

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Dark angry clouds rumbled as the Hogwarts Express thundered along the track. Smoke spouted from the chimney stack, billowing across the foggy train windows. It was a rainy September day as students waited impatiently for the train to arrive at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It wasn't school they were eager for, but the chance to catch up with old friends and, in the first years' case, make new ones. But of course they all awaited eagerly the Homecoming Feast. This topic was exactly what was being spoken about in one of the train compartments.

"Ugh, I hope we get there soon…I'm starving!" A lanky, red-head groaned. He was sprawled out on the train seat, nearly taking up the entire bench. Scrunched at the end, pressed against the window was the infamous Harry Potter. A scowl graced his normally handsome features, he ruffled his jet black hair and pushed the feet that somehow managed to position themselves on his lap, off onto the compartment floor. Ron Weasley groaned again.

The snap of a book closing drew Harry's and Ron's attention, bushy brown haired yet stunningly pretty Hermione Granger rolled her chocolate eyes at her two best friends. "You are _always_ hungry Ronald!" Harry snorted and Ron merely gave Hermione a look.

"At least I eat, you always have your nose in a book you can't even get food to your mouth!" Ron joked back, he stretched his legs back onto Harry for what seemed like the hundredth time. Harry's scowl deepened and instead of pushing Ron's feet off, Harry rolled Ron completely off the bench. Ron hit the compartment floor with a loud _thump_ and a disgruntled moan. Ron glared up at his best friend who grinned back as Hermione laughed. "Sorry mate." Harry said.

The noise of Ron's body hitting the floor jolted a petite-framed Weasley out of her day dreams. Ginny Weasley's head whipped around to take in the scene in front of her. Rolling her honey brown eyes, Ginny ran a hand through her loosely curled, auburn hair. The littlest Weasley had always been an attractive girl. But her natural beauty had shown it wasn't through, leaving her with a full chest, a slender frame, curves, and legs to kill for. Of course Ginny ignored all of this, she focused on her school work like a good girl. It wasn't the grades that made her the good girl she was, but her older brother's constant hovering. Somehow Ron had formed his sister a good girl demeanor, and Ginny was just dying to get out of it.

With a sigh Ginny gently brushed the straight side-swept bangs out of her eyes and to the side. Ginny wore makeup, but didn't over do it like some girls. A little black eyeliner, some eyeshadow, mascara, and cover up was all she needed. She turned back to the window. It wasn't that she didn't like the Golden Trio, in fact she loved them dearly: Ron as a brother, Harry as a great friend, and Hermione had easily become Ginny's best friend—besides Colin Creevy of course. The only problem with the Golden Trio is that are just that, a trio. Whenever Ginny was with them, the shadow they cast over her hid Ginny from everyone else. Ginny had no name for herself, and decided that her 6th year was going to be different. She was stepping out of those shadows and into the light.

While Ginny was swimming in her day dreams once more, the compartment door slid open and an unwelcome drawl spoke from the doorway. "Ugh, Crabbe, Goyle, this compartment is disgusting! Wouldn't you agree? Full of _filth_." Draco Malfoy threw the word "filth" at Hermione, who immediately grabbed the sleeve of Ron's shirt. Ron was already on his feet. Crabbe and Goyle snorted at Malfoy's comment even though they probably didn't understand a word of it.

The three 7th year Gryffindors scowled at the Slytherins. "The only filth I see is in the doorway, I'll be sure to inform Dumbledore that his janitorial staff missed a spot cleaning." Hermione snapped back. Draco sneered at Hermione and spoke again, "Ah but Granger, my blood is pure; while yours couldn't be filthier."

Ron growled angrily, now fighting against both Harry and Hermione. Hermione didn't look surprised to be called dirty. Harry looked about ready to let go of Ron and go after Malfoy himself. Ron was as red as his hair and his expression was one to kill.

During this exchange, Ginny had been surveying the Slytherins. Goyle and Crabbe looked just as stupid and rock-like as they did before summer break. However it was Malfoy who captured her attention. He was taller now, the rolled up sleeves of his school shirt showed his muscles. His platinum blond hair was no longer slicked back, but tumbled across his forehead and fell into his mercury colored eyes. His hair was completely straight. Ginny realized why so many girls fell for the Slytherin sex god. Now if only he had a good attitude. Ginny snapped back to reality at the sound of Goyle's grunt. "Hah, good comeback Draco." Goyle blurted out. Thinking quickly, Ginny stepped into the conversation, coming to stand next to Hermione.

This obviously surprised Draco, something flashed in his eyes, an emotion of realization that was quickly covered up. Ginny rolled her eyes and spoke directly to Goyle, "Oh please! Goyle you wouldn't know a good comeback if it came up to you and slapped across the face." Goyle just gave her a stupid look.

"Control your bitch, Potter." Draco snapped, "She appears to be spewing shit all over the place." Draco smirked at the red-head. Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Ginny cut him off. "If anyone is a bitch it would be you Malfoy, whipped by Parkinson."

Draco sneered again at her and said, "Pansy is a slut and a terrible shag." Then Draco looked directly at Ron and added, "Well at least that's what_ I _thought. Your brother here might think differently." Ginny spun around to watch all of the color drain from Ron's face. Hermione let out a little gasp and covered her mouth with her hand. Ginny turned to look at Draco who was eyeing her in a weird way. When Draco noticed Ginny looking at him, he smirked obviously satisfied with himself. None of the Trio noticed this, Hermione and Harry were trying to calm Ron down and Ron looked like he was about to puke. "See you around Weaselette." Then Draco turned and walked out of the compartment, leaving his two "rocks" to follow behind him.

As soon as the door shut, Ginny whipped around to hear Hermione shriek, "You slept with that pug-faced slut?!" She looked appalled, furious, disappointed, and disgusted all at the same time. "When?" She snarled.

Ron looked at her, "After we broke up at the end of the year party. I was completely sloshed, I didn't even really have a clue what was going on. It just happened!" Ginny looked at her brother, disgusted. She stalked over to her window seat and flopped down in it, her school robes spread out around her. She watched as the Black Lake and the Hogwarts castle came into view. The windows of the castle glowed brightly even with the storm clouds that overcastted the highest towers. Ginny smiled glad to be back. Then the castle disappeared all together behind the tall pine trees. The train glided to a halt in the Hogsmead Train Station.

Students began to file out of the compartments and into the corridor; the four Gryffindors soon joined the rest of the student body on the station platform. They waved to Hagrid who was herding the first years towards the lake. Everyone else lined up to board the carriages.

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In the Great Hall excited students chatted with each other as they took their seats at their respected tables. The teachers were all seated at the Head table, with the exception of Professor McGonagall. As soon as Ginny spotted Colin she bounded over to him giving him a hug which he happily returned. "Hey Gin! How was your summer?"

"As good as it will ever be," Ginny shrugged, "But how was yours? I mean it had to be good, you went to Rome!" That set Colin into a frenzy of stories. Ginny listened intently to everything Colin was telling her, she laughed at the ridiculous parts and was about to comment when the doors swung open to reveal small, timid first years. McGonagall led them up to the front of the Hall.

As soon as the Sorting Ceremony began, Ginny zoned out. Looking around the room, her eyes fell on the Slytherin table. She scanned their faces unsure of what, or who, she was looking for. A brilliant flash of blond captured her attention. She watched Draco as he snickered at something another boy said. Immediantly Ginny's thoughts raced back to what he had said on the train, "I'll be seeing you around Weaselette." Ginny continued to gaze across the few feet that separated her and her brother's worst enemy. _Was that a threat, _Ginny wondered, _Or a promise?_

Ginny's eyes flickered to the dark-skinned boy next to Draco: Blaise Zambini, the other Prince of Slytherin and Draco's best friend. Blaise had a muscular body with dark hair and smoldering brown eyes. He was just as good looking as Draco but in a more mysterious, tall, dark, and handsome kind of way; while Draco the dangerous bad-boy fashion. Moving her eyes back to Draco's face, Ginny propped her head on her hand, elbow on the table. She always wondered why the Golden Trio hated him so much. True he's a royal arse, but there had to be something that made him that way. _No one is born that mean,_ Ginny decided. A moment later she noticed Blaise nudge Draco and nod in her direction. Draco's head shot up.

Mercury met honey as their eyes locked. The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, then the infamous Malfoy smirked etched itself on Draco's face. He lifted an eyebrow as if asking, "What Weasley?" Ginny scowled at him and turned away as the entire Great Hall erupted into applause. With the Sorting done, Dumbledore stood up and began his new school year speech. After explaining the rules to the new students and reminded the older ones, Dumbledore continued by informing the students of upcoming events in the next two months.

Then Dumbledore smiled and said, "Now I am pleased to introduce your new Head Girl and Boy." The Hall fell silent, wondering who was chosen. "These two students have shown extraordinary good grades, responsibility, and the ability to take charge and get what needs to be done, done." Dumbledore took a breath and continued, "Would each student please stand when their name is called. First, your new Head Girl, a talented and extremely intelligent young witch: Hermione Granger!" The Hall erupted into cheers, Gryffindors cheered the loudest as Hermione stood up, her Head Girl badge shining. Her face was as red as Ginny's hair. When the students had calmed, Dumbledore continued his speech. "Congratulations Miss Granger. Now for you Head Boy, an excellent student whose presence seems to command attention and respect: Draco Malfoy!" The Slytherin table screamed their approval, becoming louder than the Gryffindors.

Ginny whipped her head around to stare at Draco as he slowly stood up, a smirk on his face; the same badge that was shining on Hermione's robes was shining on his chest. _Why didn't I see that before?_ Ginny wondered. Most of the Great Hall, except for the teachers and Slytherins, looked at Dumbledore like he had gone insane. Dumbledore just stood there and smiled brightly at the student body. Ginny watched, mouth slightly ajar, as Draco turned to look at Ginny his smirked widened. After a moment Draco began to sit down. Then he paused and, still with a smirk, winked at Ginny. Draco's action did not go unnoticed. As soon as the food began to appear on the plates before them, Ron leaned over and growled at Ginny, "Why in Melin's name is that git winking at you?!"

Ginny snapped her attention to Ron, "I don't bloody know! He's an arse what the hell do you expect from him?" Ron seemed satisfied with her response and began to fill his plate with food. Ginny sighed and glanced at the Slytherin table, Draco was staring directly at her. He had no expression, just his cold demeanor. Suddenly Ginny wasn't hungry anymore.

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A/N: Well there you go, first chapter up! Thank you for reading, comments would be splendid. Good or bad I don't mind. Anything you think should be changed, tell me. It may take me a little while to update again because I'm so busy. But I will try my best not to leave this story unfinished. =)**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Absence of Light**

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine.**

The first week of school went fine for Ginny. Her classes were fine, minus Transfiguration but she was never good at that anyways. So when Friday rolled around Ginny was glad she didn't have to do anything. That was until Hermione found her sitting in the Common Room in front of the fire place.

"Why are you just sitting here?" Hermione asked, "There is a start of the year party in the Room of Requirement, but _ssh! _No one is suppose to know, well under 5th year." Ginny sat up and grinned. "When is it?" Ginny asked, looking at the clock on the wall: 7:03.

"Eight." Hermione stated like it was obvious. "Let's go get ready!" The two girls dashed up the stairs to Ginny's room. Ginny's favorite part of Hogwarts was the illegal parties that were held all year round. Each girl took quick showers and dried their hair. By the time the two girls finished getting ready, they looked stunning. Ginny supported a tight-fitting, dark blue, skinny jeans, a low cut emerald green tank top that revealed a bit of her naval. A belt of silver circles hung loose around her waist, adding to her look she had on a part of black wedges. Her makeup was darker than normal and the eyeshadow stood out in a complimentary way. She had left her breast-length hair down and completely straight. Hermione wore a short mini skirt she had borrowed from Ginny, a low cut scarlet halter top, and white flats. Her normally bushy hair was replaced by glossy loose curls half pinned back with a simple white clip. Hermione's makeup was like Ginny only she used dark plum eyeliner and not Ginny's black. Both girls stepped back and surveyed each other, then smirked their approval.

They quickly made their way to the Room of Requirement, walking by it three times before a door appeared. As soon as the door opened Hermione and Ginny were greeted with a blast of music: the party had already hit full swing. The room was a mass of moving bodies, different colored lights flashed across the dance floor. The lights flashed off the mirror-covered walls, the floor was made of wood, the bar was made of the same wood with matching green bar seats. Like most of the room had been decorated with green or silver. A Slytherin party.

Ginny made her way through the crowd to the bar. Hermione took a seat in one of the bar stools and ordered a Rum and Coke. Ginny leaned against the bar watching the bodies sway. Turning away from the dance floor Ginny looked for Hermione, who had somehow disappeared into the party. Ginny rolled her eyes and with a sigh sat down at the bar. "What can I get you?" The bartender asked.

"Uh, a Firewhiskey please." Ginny answered. The bartender placed a bottle in front of her and popped the top off. She took a sip. "Well, who do we have here?" Drawled a familiar voice. Ginny sighed again, "What do you want Ferret?" She answered before turning to face Malfoy.

"I'm only getting a drink, but it seems there is some filth near the bar." Malfoy answered in a bored tone. Ginny realized for the first time that Malfoy was alone, none of his Slytherin friends flanked his sides. Not even the rocks he calls friends. "You're alone." Ginny stated stupidly.

"Yes, very good Weasley. I am alone. Crabbe and Goyle have gotten even dumber over break, and I didn't think that was possible." Malfoy took a seat next to Ginny. Ginny gave a dry laugh, looking sideways at Draco. He smirked and ordered two shots. Draco pushed one shot in front of Ginny. "Cheers." Draco said quietly. The two tapped glasses, downed the drinks, and ordered more. "What were we cheering?" Ginny asked, feeling a little dizzy. She had already had two firewhiskeys, a beer, a margarita, and now two shots.

Ginny took the drink again: another tequila shot. Malfoy and Ginny drank the shots quickly. "You know, I really shouldn't be drinking this." Ginny sighed. Draco rolled his eyes and sneered, "Live a little Weasley." Ginny glared at him as he took another shot. "I'm going to go dance!" Ginny announced much louder than normal. Before she left she grabbed another beer.

Weaving her way into the crowd of bodies, Ginny found Harry and Ron scowling at the dance floor. Ginny followed their gazes: Hermione was on the dance floor, beer in hand, grinding against a Ravenclaw boy. Ginny laughed and stepped into the mess of bodies and made her way towards Hermione. The two girls began dancing together.

By the time 2 o'clock rolled around the party was beginning to cool off. Ginny stumbled out the door of the Room of Requirement alone. Hermione had left with the Ravenclaw boy. Harry and Ron left much earlier. The hallway was swirling around Ginny, making her sick to her stomach. A moment later Ginny burst into the bathroom and vomited into the toilet. Cool hands held her hair back and away from her face until she finished.

"You alright?" A male's voice asked. Ginny nodded and turned around to look at her rescuer. Draco Malfoy stood behind her, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. Ginny stared at him in surprise, swayed slightly. The she blinked staring at the two Draco moving in front of her. She took a step towards him and stumbled again, Draco grabbed her arm to steady her. Ginny looked at him and asked the first question that came to her mind, "Why are you in the girls' bathroom?"

Draco smirked, "I'm not. This is the guys bathroom." Ginny looked around her taking in the swirling room. "Oh." She said softly. She took a step and nearly slammed her face into the sink. "Easy there Weasel, are you that incapable of walking?" Draco attempted to help Ginny back to Gryffindor Tower. By the time they reached the stairs, Draco's patience was running thin. He let go of Ginny, he half turned to leave and then glanced at the drunk girl. He growled and lifted Ginny and tossed her over one shoulder and proceeded up the stairs. Stopping in front of the Fat Lady, Draco set Ginny down, knocked loudly on the frame. Before someone opened the door, Draco was already around the corner.

Light streamed in through the crack in Ginny's curtains. It fell directly into her eyes. She sat up quickly and felt her stomach roll, she put her head back down on the pillow and groaned. "Welcome back to Hogwarts." Ginny said gruffly, clutching her pounding head. Ginny stood and walked to the mirror. A pale girl stared back at her, honey-colored eyes dull, bags beneath her eyes. She groaned again, stretching her limbs. A jog would help clear her mind, maybe with her pounding head too. She pulled on a pair of shorts and a tank top and threw her hair up in a messy ponytail.

It was still early when Ginny stepped onto Hogwarts grounds. She started off down the hill towards the lake; she made a round around the Quidditch pitch and back to the lake. By the time she finished her second round she was sweating. She stopped running and stretched again to relax her limbs. Then with a deep breath she turned towards the castle, something caught her eye in the pitch. Shielding her eyes, Ginny stared at the pitch. A lone flyer was ducking and dodging around the field. Ginny continued to watch until the player stopped and seemed to look directly at Ginny before dropping suddenly to the ground.

Ginny turned quickly and walked into the castle, not looking back. _That was…odd._ She thought. Avoiding the rest of the student body, Ginny went back to the Tower and showered. Getting herself ready for the beautiful Saturday, Ginny walked downstairs to the Great Hall. She found Colin and began telling her about her night last night.

"You got that smashed?" Colin asked surprised. "Like I didn't think you would ever get drunk."

Ginny shrugged, "Well…" _'Live a little Weasley'_ Draco's words echoed in her head. "I was living life." She smiled, "Which is exactly what I'm going to do from now on."

Colin just shook his head, "Don't you drag me into this. I've got enough problems without trying to keep you out of trouble."

Ginny laughed. "Tell me about your boyfriend." Colin smiled and started chatting about the new boy he found "online," whatever that means.

Ginny was just putting some pancakes on her plate when an angry Ron stomped up to her with Harry in tow. Hermione followed rolling her eyes. "We need to speak right now Ginny." Ginny lifted an eyebrow and glanced at the Slytherin table for just a moment. Draco was sitting with a smirk only Ginny would understand on his face. "What could possibly be wrong Ronnie?" Ginny asked loudly. Ron glared at her, "You came back to the Tower completely smashed. And the worse thing is, YOU didn't even walk there. Someone brought you there and left! What do you have to say for yourself?"

Part of the Gryffindor table and part of the Slytherin table were listening to what was happening. "Well Ron, I was—as some people might put it—'living life.'" Ginny purposely looked directly at Draco when she said this, he just smirked back at her. With an innocent smile at her brother and Harry and a smirk at Hermione, Ginny turned back to her pancakes.

Ginny spent the rest of her Saturday, and then Sunday, lounging outside in the grass, occasionally working on some homework. Soon the weekend was over and Ginny was thrown back into school mode.

By Friday the next week Ginny knew she was in trouble with her Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall held her back one day to speak with her. "I'm concerned about your grade Miss Weasley." McGonagall tapped her quill lightly on the desk in front of her. "You are a smart witch, but you lack the ability to perform this spells. So I've decided you are to have a tutor. I've written down all the spells you need to master this year. Work on them and we will have occasional check ins throughout the year. I expect improvement in class as well."

Ginny looked at McGonagall in surprise, "Is my grade really that bad?!" McGonagall lifted and eyebrow, "You are failing." Ginny sighed. _Damnit!_ She thought. Professor McGonagall continued, "I have multiple students for you to have as a tutor. But I chose Dennis Clearwater, he is an excellent tutor." Ginny nodded and made a mental note to owl him. "Now on to your next class, here is your pass." Ginny took the piece of parchment and headed off to her next class.

After dinner Ginny made her way through the crowd of students to the Owlery to send a note to Dennis Clearwater. She scribbled a quick note explaining things even though McGonagall probably already told him. It wasn't long before the owl flew back a new note attached to its leg.

Hey Ginny,

Yeah McGonagall told me that too. How about tonight at 8 in the library?

-Dennis

Ginny answered back quickly with a 'yes'. It would be eight in half an hour, Ginny quickly headed down the stairs of the Owlery and headed towards Gryffindor Tower to get her book bag. She walked into the library directly at eight. Ginny looked around for Dennis. There was no one in the library, not even the librarian. Ginny sat down at one of the tables in view of the doors. Half an hour passed and still no Dennis, Ginny didn't even know what he looks like. By 9:20 Ginny had had enough.

"Unbelievable," Ginny snapped to herself. "He stood me up!"

"You know, talking to yourself is a sign of insanity." Draco Malfoy said, as he walked into the library. Ginny glared at him. "Don't mind me, continue your conversation." Draco smirked to himself. "So who stood you up? What, you have a study date? That's romantic."

"First off, what do you know about romantic?" Ginny scoffed, "And second, he's my tutor not my date. Not that it's any of your business."

"Well to answer your question, I actually do know quite a bit about romance." Draco answered, "Who's your tutor?"

"Dennis Clearwater, who is apparently too stupid to be on time to a session _he _planned." Ginny sighed, setting her bag back on the table. Draco sat down at the same table, putting his feet up. "What was he tutoring you in?" Draco asked.

"Transfiguration." Ginny blushed slightly. Draco smirked, "How about this, I'll tutor you in Transfiguration and you…help me in Magical Creatures." He said the last part quietly. Ginny giggled slightly, "You're failing Hagrid's class?"

"Hey, shut it. You're failing Transfiguration." Draco snapped, Ginny stopped laughing and gave him a dirty look. "Alright, when do you want to work on it?" The two sat discussing times and places where people wouldn't see them much. The Gryffindor Princess faradizing with the Slytherin Prince would end up bad for both Houses, especially Ron.

"Okay, so tomorrow at four?" Ginny asked, "Back of the library." Draco nodded and then stood up, stretching his legs.

"You should probably head back to your dorm, it's already ten." Draco grabbed the two books he brought in with him and dropped them on Pince's desk before strolling out of the library, hands in pockets.

Ginny followed not long after; _Did I really just make a study session with Draco Malfoy? Oh Ron is going to try to kill me when he finds out…_

**A/N: There you go, the second chapter (: I hope you liked it, reviews would be great! Next chapter I promise will be much more interesting. So I updated this one a little earlier than I normally would, but I had the time to finish it so there you are. (:**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Absence of Light**

**Chapter 3**

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine.**

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"This doesn't make sense."

Draco sighed again; then he transformed the small glass shot glass back into scarf. "What don't you understand, for the eighth time?"

Ginny scowled at him, "The wand movement." Draco picked up his wand and repeated the motion again. "It's really not that hard, you just have to remember to flick." Draco flicked his wrist as a demonstration. Ginny copied the motion and repeated the word Draco told her. Nothing happened.

"I can't do this." Ginny dropped her wand back on the table, and then proceeded to cross her arms and pout. "Well I don't know how else to explain this to you." Draco rolled his at Ginny, with a slightly amused look on his face.

The two had been meeting every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday for the past three weeks and so far only Draco had improved. Another thing that had come from their meetings was the rumors about the pair. Various stories about the two of the sleeping together were floating around. One story implied that Ginny and Draco had hidden their relationship from the school and they had been dating since his fifth year. None of these rumors had passed Ron by, he was furious with Ginny. It took Ginny half an hour to calm him down enough to explain about the tutoring and even then he wasn't happy. Hermione was just as surprised as Ron; she asked why Ginny didn't come to her. Ginny had no response for that.

"Alright I'm gonna show you again." Draco said. Standing behind Ginny, he grabbed her wand with Ginny's hand under his. He repeated the motion twice. Then let go. Ginny did exactly what Draco showed her and repeated the words. Again nothing happened.

"What the fuck?!" Ginny snapped, tossing her wand onto the pile of books again. Draco snorted from somewhere behind her. Ginny gave him another glare before standing up and walking towards the Restricted Section of the library. She began scanning the books, looking for one that would help her. Draco soon came to join her. He would grab the books from the shelf when Ginny couldn't reach them. Ginny pulled out a dusty volume from the bottom shelf. Dropping the book on the table, Ginny blew some of the dust away to reveal the title: _Praeteritum_.

"Past." Draco said, reading over Ginny's shoulder. "What?" Ginny asked.

"It's Latin, it means 'past'. Wonder what it's about." Draco added. He flipped open the cover and stared at the first page. "It's blank."

"Yes, I see that." Ginny said, "Thanks for pointing out the obvious." Draco sneered at her but began flipping through the pages. He finally stopped on the only page in the book with writing on it. Two pages were cover by a large red rose. Thorns ran along the edges of the page along a deep green vine. In a fancy print was the word _Praeteritum_ again. "Huh, this is a weird book." Ginny said. "Praeteritum."

As soon as the word left Ginny's mouth the entire library went dead silent. No one else was in the room with them, Pince was long gone by now. Then a sudden _whoosh_ noise began, slowly getting louder and louder. The wind picked up and raced along the bookshelves, knocking books down. Draco grabbed Ginny, pulling her back away from the magic book. A cyclone of swirling books and papers rose from the book, yanking at Ginny's hair and pulling her out of Draco's grasp. The power of the wind pulled both Ginny and Draco towards it. Ginny screamed and felt herself falling into blackness. She couldn't see anything but felt Draco grab her arm again. A sense of coolness overcame her and, as she continued to fall, she opened her eyes to see only black.

The falling lasted only a moment before Ginny felt herself yanked away from the cooling sensation. Ground suddenly appeared in front of Ginny's face, she screamed again in surprise. She hit the ground, but didn't feel any pain from it. Draco landed next to her. The two lay there for a minute before Ginny rolled over and took in her surroundings. The portraits on the wall moved into each other's frames, trying to see Ginny and Draco. "Okay, so we are definitely still in Hogwarts." Ginny said. The suits of armor against the walls were near what Ginny guessed was the Trophy Room. Ginny stood up, Draco followed.

Ginny looked down the hallway at the sound of footsteps. A man was walking towards them, his long beard was beginning to gray. "Ah, you must be the new teachers!" Dumbledore said, shaking both of their hands. Draco and Ginny looked confused at each other. "Um Professor?" Draco began.

But Dumbledore cut him off, "So you are…?" Ginny looked at him in surprise and said, "Ginny Weas—Ginny Kemp. This is my—husband Draco Kemp." Ginny smiled sweetly, introducing Draco. Dumbledore smiled cheerfully.

"Well I'm pleased to have you here Mr. and Mrs. Kemp." Dumbledore smiled, "I'll show you to your room now." _Room?_ Ginny thought then she realized exactly what she did by introducing Draco as her husband. _Shit._

Draco glared at Ginny and mouthed, _"This is your fault!"_ Ginny stared at him, mouth slightly open. _"How!?"_ Dumbledore paused at the entrance to a large classroom as Draco mouthed at Ginny, _"Because you had to say the damn word out loud!"_ Dumbledore turned around smiling.

"This is your classroom, your chambers are through that door and up the stairs." Dumbledore said. "I expect that you already know you are teaching Care of Magical Creatures." Ginny only nodded. Dumbledore shook both their hands again and swept out of the room. Ginny stared around at the classroom while Draco ran his hand along the old, dusty volumes of books. "What's going on?" Ginny asked, "It's so different, but this is definitely Hogwarts. Only something is different.

"James, go!" A scruffy-looking boy yelled from down the hall. "Catch!" Both Ginny's and Draco's heads whipped around to look at a shaggy black haired boy catch something and come running down the hallway, the something clutched to his chest. 'James' raced down the hallway nearly knocking Ginny over. "Oh! Sorry Miss—" He stopped talking and running to look at Ginny. "I'm sorry I don't know your name. Wait are you the new Care of Magical Creatures teachers?"

"Uh," Draco began, "Yes. Yes we are." The 17-year-old boy looked up at him from behind his glasses. "Aren't you a little young to be teachers already?"

Ginny shook her head, "No, I'm 21 and my husband is 23." She randomly picked an age for them. "But I'm Professor Kemp, and so is my husband. Might be hard to get our attention if we use the same names." Ginny shook her head, "But what is your name?"

The young boy looked at Ginny with a grin and said, "James Potter."

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A/N: Well I know that it is short, but I figured a little cliffy wouldn't hurt anyone. (: So please comment with what you think, criticize me if you want. Tell me what you think what you want to read, I'll try to fit it in. And thank you to everyone who has reviewed.**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Absence of Light**

**Chapter 4**

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine, except the plot.**

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"Gah!" Ginny made a quiet noise at the name. Draco said nothing, but stared at James. James gave them a weird look. The group was joined by the shaggy haired boy who yelled from down the hall. "What do we have here, Prongs?" The boy asked James. "Well we have Professor Kemp and Professor Kemp, the two new Magical Creatures teachers, Padfoot."

_Padfoot? That's Sirius' nickname…_ Ginny looked at the two boys. "Well boys, off you go. We'll see you in class tomorrow." Ginny said quickly. She grabbed Draco's arm and turned around, heading into the classroom. Draco followed her.

"Okay, James Potter!" Ginny said once they were safely in their chambers. "Padfoot! We have to be in the past! Harry's dad. Sirius Black's nickname was Padfoot. That's the only explanation."

Draco nodded, "Praeteritum means "past" in Latin. But it's an adjective; it has to be describing something."

"But the other pages were blank." Ginny said slowly. "There weren't any other words." Draco shrugged, "I have no idea how to get us back." Ginny sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Ugh. All I can think about now is the class we have to teach, even though we have no idea what to do about it." Ginny said looking up at Draco. "We have to have a lesson plan and such. They are going to expect us to teach them _something_."

Draco walked over to the desk on near the big window. A piece of parchment lay alone on the desk. "Here's something. It's a list of magical creatures, only some of them have a check next to their names." Ginny stood up and went to the desk as well. "I guess that's what we will have to teach them. It says that we only teach sixth and seventh years. That isn't too bad."

"Well we are going to have to find these animals _and_ learn about them." Draco said. Ginny looked at him, he was actually being somewhat nice to her.

"You know, you are a lot better when you aren't being an arse." Ginny commented, walking over to the bookshelves. She ran her hands along the bindings of the volumes, reading the names of each one. She pulled one off the shelf. It was a guide to taking care of a Nunda. "I guess we can do this one first. It seems interesting. But I don't think we can bring it into the classroom but it would be a good starting point." Draco, who had been glaring at her for her comment earlier, paused to read over her shoulder.

"Alright, so let's research this animal." Draco skimmed for another book about the same creature. He sat down in a chair while Ginny grabbed the desk chair and pulled out a quill, ink pot, and a fresh piece of parchment. The two spent the majority of the day researching. By the time dinner came around, Ginny was laying on the bed next to Draco discussing their new classes.

"Okay so tomorrow we are just going to get to know the students right?" Ginny asked, rolling onto her back. Draco nodded and glanced at the clock on the wall. "Uh, we have to be at dinner in like five minutes." Ginny sat up and looked at the clock as well. "Well I have to freshen up then!" She slid off the cream silk comforter, pushing aside the dark forest green curtains. She stepped into one of the bathrooms. Everything was a deep green marble: the counters, the bath, the floor, and even the walls. A full length mirror was on one end of the bathroom. Another long mirror was above the sink. Ginny quickly redid her makeup, which was, surprisingly, neatly laid out on the counter. Although Ginny had no idea how her belongings had gotten to their chambers, but she wasn't going to complain.

Walking out of the bathroom, Ginny announced, "I'm ready." Draco looked up from their research. "That's great for you." He sneered. Ginny gave him a sour look and headed out the door and into the classroom. She walked down the small staircase before she stepped onto the classroom floor. "Make sure you lock the door."

* * *

Only the teachers were in the Great Hall when Ginny and Draco arrived. Various teachers greeted them as they made to take their seats near the end of the long table. It wasn't long before students began to file into the Hall. It took even less time for them to notice Ginny and Draco. Ginny could see Sirius and James talking in a huddle with two other boys and two girls. The group looked at the two new teachers and then turned back to discuss them some more.

Soon all of the students were seated and the talk slowly died down. Dumbledore stood up and began talking to the students. It wasn't a welcome back speech since the school year had already begun. "And lastly, but certainly not least, I would like to introduce a pair of teachers who are new to our staff. If you would please greet the new sixth and seventh year students new Care of Magical Creatures teachers: Mr. Draco Kemp and Mrs. Ginny Kemp." The students applauded as the two stood up, Ginny slightly embarrassed and Draco as if he was born for attention. They sat down and dinner was served only a moment later.

Ginny surveyed the Great Hall. It looked exactly like it did back in her own time period. The ceiling portrayed a clear night; stars glittered across the black night. Ginny ate little, still feeling extremely weird being in the past. _The past, this is so weird!_ Draco glanced at Ginny, "You okay?" He muttered. Ginny nodded, surprised he asked. _Maybe he isn't so bad._

Ginny looked over at the Gryffindor table once more. A pretty brunette girl was sitting a little ways down from James, she was giggling at whatever joke James was saying. Ginny paused, "Why does she look so familiar?" Draco followed Ginny's gaze. His eyes landed on the girl and he smirked, "She's hot." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"But, uh, that's Lilly Evans. Almost known as Lilly Potter." Draco added softly. Ginny looked at the girl again, realizing she looked a lot like the woman in Harry's photo. "Harry said they met at school and got together their last year. Apparently they were brought together by something before Christmas. But they aren't dating and its getting close to Christmas."

"Do not get involved Ginny." Draco said quickly. "You can't mess with the past; you mess with the future when you do." Ginny looked at him, "What if we are suppose to? You know like we were sent back here for that reason?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Not likely." Ginny scowled at him. Dinner ended shortly after Ginny and Draco's conversation. The "couple" stood up and faking a happy, married couple wandered outside the Great Hall. "You can get your hand off me." Ginny said still annoyed at Draco. Draco dropped his arm off her shoulders. The two headed up to their chambers.

Once inside their rooms they both headed for the separate bathrooms, they found most of their belongs sitting on the sinks. _That's weird, we didn't even bring anything._ After she showered, Ginny wrapped her wet hair up in a bun. Ginny walked out of the bathroom in nothing but a bathrobe. She began going through all of the drawers and closet space. "Draco!" She called. A muffled "What?" came from the other bathroom. "Uh, we have only like two robes that will work for teachers and I only have one pair of shorts and a blouse—"

"Get to the point already." Draco snapped, coming out of the bathroom in only a towel. Ginny's eyebrows lifted as she inspected his toned chest and abs. She cleared her throat softly and said, "My point is, we need to go shopping. Do you have any money cause, well…I don't." Draco walked over to the other side of the bedroom and picked up a pouch. "I think this has enough money in it to buy you and me entire new wardrobes. We can go this weekend."

Ginny nodded and pulled out a tee-shirt and a pair of cloth short shorts. She looked at Draco who was now standing without his towel in his boxers. "What? Are you too self-conscious to change with your back to me?" Draco asked sarcastically.

Ginny scoffed, "No." Although she really was. Ginny turned her back to Draco and slipped into a pair of panties and the short. She let the bathrobe fall to the floor and attempted to quickly pull the shirt over her head without Draco noticing. She heard him whistle and laugh when she blushed.

"You're too easy, Weasley." Draco sneered. Ginny ignored him and moved towards the bed. It was a large four-poster bed with a cream, silk comforter and dark forest green curtains that were wide open. There were matching green pillows on the bed. Ginny lifted the comforter and got in bed, snuggling down. Draco walked over to the bed and began to get in.

"What are you doing?" Ginny snapped. Draco lifted an eyebrow, "Getting into bed." Ginny shook her head quickly. "No you aren't. Go sleep on the couch I'm not sharing a bed with you!"

Draco looked at her. "Okay. First off, Malfoy's do not sleep on the couch. Second, grow the hell up. I'm not going to try and have sex with you or touch you any more than I have to." Then he got in bed.

"Stay on your side." Ginny sighed. Draco grunted and rolled over, turning off his light. With a yawn Ginny follow suit. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

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**A/N: There you go, another chapter. (: Please review with your thoughts. There will be much more Ginny and Draco action to come! Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Absence of Light**

**Chapter 5**

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine, except the plot.**

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Ginny stood slightly nervous at the front of the classroom. Draco stood next to her, leaning lazily against the big wooden desk behind them. A spread of Slytherin and Gryffindor 7th year students sat in front of them. Teachers and students carefully watched each other. Ginny noticed James, Sirius, and Remus Lupin seated in the back. Lilly was sitting next to two other girls closer to the front of the room.

"Good morning." Ginny said, "I'm Ginny Kemp and this is my husband Draco Kemp. Uh, well I suppose we can go around the room and tell us your names. Yes, I know it's boring." Draco snorted and said, "Boring isn't the word for it." Ginny half smiled and gently hit Draco in the arm. The class laughed.

"Alright, Draco. You come up with a fun game then." Ginny stepped back and taking a seat behind the desk. Draco stood up; his hair flittered across his forehead. The majority of the girls in the class exhaled a collected sigh. Ginny felt something pull inside her. She stood up and walked around the desk towards Draco. She slipped her hand into his and side-long glanced at the girls who gave her a jealous look.

"Well tell us your names." Draco said bluntly. "Then you can ask questions and then I think I've got a good game to try out." Draco let go of Ginny's hand and moved his arm around her shoulders. Their movements didn't seem natural almost like a robot's movement. _This shouldn't be hard, it's just acting._ Ginny stepped closer to Draco in attempt to make their "love" more natural. The students began saying their names and Ginny attempted to memorize them.

"Lindsey Falls"

"Severus Snape." Ginny looked up quickly and looked at her former teacher. She felt Draco's arm tighten for a moment and then relax again. She glanced at James and Sirius who were laughing silently in the back of the class and Ginny was sure it had to do with Snape. Ginny looked at them, made eye contact and the two stopped laughing. She smiled and returned her attention to the last of the students.

"Alright," Draco leaned against the desk again and pulled Ginny next to him. "Any questions for us?"

"This is just a 'get-to-know-each-other' kind of day." Ginny said, "Mostly to just fuck around."

Some of the students looked surprised at her language, but Ginny just smiled at them. A moment later a student raised their hand. "Um, how old are you two?" Shelby Hunter asked.

"I'm 23 and Gin here is 21." Draco drawled in a slightly bored voice. "Oh and don't call us Professor Kemp, since there is two of us call us by our names: Draco and Ginny." The class slowly began to relax as the class progressed.

"When did you get married?" Lilly asked, James snorted and Lilly glared at him.

"That's all girls want to know, all about relationships and shit." James drawled a lot like Draco sounded.

"That isn't true." Lilly mumbled. Ginny glanced at Draco. _How were they going to answer that?_

"The twenty-third of October last year." Draco answered without a hesitation. Ginny went with it, a smile on her face. "We just had our one year anniversary before we came here." Draco added.

"How did you propose to Ginny?" Lilly asked, all of the girls' attention was caught with that question.

"Oh jeez." James muttered.

Draco paused, his expression revealed nothing that he was thinking. "Well, it was in January and I took Gin out for a walk because it was a fresh snow. And we ended up on a bridge by a small waterfall. Course she thought it was an accident that we ended up there. It was about ten at night and well, she sure looked beautiful standing there. So I got down on one knee and pulled out her ring and I asked her to marry me right when it started to snow."

Every girl in class awed which was followed with a bunch of "That's so cute!"s. Draco laughed and Ginny smiled at him. He wasn't too bad to be around when he was relaxed. A moment later the bell rang to signal the end of class. The students picked up their bags and waved to their new favorite teachers.

"Lilly wait up!" James called quickly catching up to Lilly.

"What do you want James, come to make fun of me again?" Lilly snapped. James looked surprised, "What? No. I just want to see if you wanted to go to Hogsmead with me this weekend?"

Lilly looked at him, "Is this a joke?" James shook his head and looked at her with hopeful eyes. Ginny could tell she was about to give in when a blonde girl walked past James. James watched her walk. "Wow, that's cool of you James. Maybe you should take her instead." Then Lilly stalked off.

"Good one James." Ginny sighed. James blushed and muttered, "Bye." Then he ducked out of the hallway to the Grand staircase.

* * *

"Now a Nunda or Mngwa, meaning the strange one, is a giant feline. It is said to be the size of a donkey." Ginny said, flipping the projector slide to reveal a picture of a large grey beast. "It resembles that of a leopard and a lion. But as you can tell, they are visibly different stilll."

"This beast doesn't have very many sightings, but British scientists have been studying and attempting to track the animal throughout East Africa." Draco added. He had his feet up on the desk and was lazily drawing glowing circles in the air with his wand. The students spread out in front of the teachers were busily scratching down everything being said. A moment later the bell rang. "Alright, we'll pick up where we left off on Monday. Have a good weekend." Draco drawled as the students gathered up their belongings. Ginny and Draco retreated to their chambers.

"I thought that went well." Ginny said, taking off her teaching robe. She was left with worn and slightly destroyed jeans and a small green tank top. Draco flicked his wand at the windows and they sprung open to allow a cool breeze into the room. Ginny stood in front of one and let the wind blow her fiery curls back off her shoulders. Draco stepped out of all his clothes except for his shorts. He picked up a few of the books on the desk and looked through them. Ginny turned around and opened her eyes. She paused when she caught sight of Draco shirtless. Her eyes ran over the newly revealed skin, drinking in the sight.

"Well, if you are done eye-fucking me." Draco smirked. His smirked widened when he saw her blush.

"Don't be a prick." Ginny snapped, "I wasn't 'eye-fucking' you."

"Fine, undressing me with your eyes." Draco answered. Cutting Ginny off he added, "Whatever you want to call it." Draco walked over to the bookcase and placed the heavy volumes in their correct space.

Ginny sighed and turned back to the window. "So I was thinking we could go shopping tonight? Like soon, I'm running out of clean under—shirts." Ginny said.

"Why can't you just go yourself?" Draco groaned. He started to sort through the books strewn across the stone floor.

"How about because people would wonder why we aren't together? You know since we are married and all." Ginny rolled her eyes. "You know if we leave now we can probably finish by dinner. We don't have any more classes to teach today." Ginny spun around, her foot catching a few of the books sending her flying towards the ground. Draco's arm shot out and wrapped around her waist, yanking her towards him.

"Watch it, Ginny." Draco said gruffly, holding her up against his chest. Ginny froze. Draco looked down at her, inside his head a battle raged about what to do next. His eyes flickered to her lips and he watched as Ginny stared up at him through her eyelashes. In a split second Draco made his decision. He closed the space between them, his lips on hers. For just a moment both were caught up in a whirlwind of emotions. Then they split quickly.

"Whoa! Okay, where did that come from?" Ginny asked, stepping away.

"I don't fucking know!" Draco snapped, "Maybe it's the heat?"

Ginny nodded, "Yes, the heat. Yeah definitely."

Draco agreed. "We should go get those clothes and such now…" Ginny nodded again and walked out of their chambers. Draco followed pulling a shirt over his head.

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**A/N: Well here you go! I hope you like it (: How about a little preview for new chapter?**

"He removed his dress robe and threw it into a chair, and then he climbed on top of Ginny. Ginny immediately flipped positions so she was straddling Draco."

**(: I'll finish as soon as I can.**


	6. Chapter 6

**The Absence of Light**

**Chapter 6**

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine, except the plot.**

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About two months later, Ginny stood looking in the mirror. She was wearing a simple yet elegant black thigh-length dress with a silver belt around her waist. She was required to have one to wear to the Halloween dance that Draco and Ginny needed to attend. Turning to the marble counter of her bathroom, Ginny picked up the black mask, fluffy white feathers stuck out in a fashionable way. The mask was outlined by silver sparkles. She pulled it over her pin-straight red hair. With a final inspection in the mirror, Ginny left the bathroom. Draco was pulling on a dark green dress robe over his white shirt and black pants.

"You ready to go?" Draco asked, running a hand through his messy hair. He had a green mask clutched in one hand. He turned around to face Ginny and paused for a long moment. Ginny nearly blushed as his eyes looked her up and down.

"You look nice." Ginny smiled. Draco nodded a thanks and finally pulled his eyes away from her chest. "So do you." Ginny smile immediately grew bigger. She knew that was a high compliment coming from Draco. The two walked out of their chambers and headed down the stairs to the Great Hall where the dance was being held. The doors to the Hall were opened wide. The walls were covered with black drapes and orange lights bounced off the walls and dance floor. Carved jack-o-lanterns were hovering above everyone's heads. White candles floated around the room, intermingling with the pumpkins. The walls were lined with small circular tables dressed in orange and black tablecloths. The center pieces were a clump of white lilies with a gold candle in the middle. The dance was only open to sixth and seventh years, there was only two teachers—Ginny and Draco—and then Dumbledore who really wasn't paying attention.

"Wow this place looks good." Ginny breathed. Draco nodded in agreement and headed over to a table. Ginny followed closely behind. Ginny noticed Lilly and her friend Shelby standing near the punch bowl. "That is definitely not punch in that bowl." Ginny murmered to Draco.

"Good, then I'm gonna go get some of it." Draco walked over to the bowl and picked up two glasses and then filled them up. He smiled at the two girls who giggled. Ginny took the glass Draco offered her. She took a sip and winced, the amount of alcohol in the punch was ridiculous.

Ginny waved at the two girls, calling them over. Draco lazily sat down, his feet on another chair.

"Hello ladies, you look wonderful." Ginny said taking in their outfits. Lilly was wearing a deep green dress with a slightly low-cut neck line. She had on silver earrings and silver heels. Her red hair was tied back in a ponytail and, since her hair was long, draped over her shoulder. Shelby was wearing a loose fitting flower pattern light blue dress with fancy black leggings under it and gold earrings.

The two girls smiled and Lilly said, "You look really nice too." The three continued chatting with each other. Their group slowly grew bigger when James, Sirius, Remus, and a few others joined them. Sirius was flirting with a few girls before he asked a pretty blonde to dance. The DJ was pounding out dance music and the mess of bodies moved together as one. The sway was a mesmerizing action. _'Well it's either that or the alcohol I'm haven't stopped drinking.'_ Ginny thought to herself.

Ginny and Draco watched as James held out a hand to Lilly.

Lilly looked at him and said, "Really? You aren't going to play a prank on me."

James shook his head, "Merlin no, you look too good for me to play a prank on you." He smiled. Lilly smiled slightly back at him and let him pulled her to the dance floor. Soon the other students dispersed and headed for the dance floor.

Ginny sat down next to Draco. "I need more to drink." Draco muttered. He grabbed another couple of drinks.

"You know, I really shouldn't drink this." Ginny said as she inspected the orange and red swirled drink in her hand.

Draco smirked and repeated what he had said before, it seemed so long ago. "Live a little Weasley."

Ginny laughed and downed two more drinks. Draco followed suit.

* * *

By the time the end of the dance rolled around, Ginny was on her seventh drink; Draco was on his sixth. Ginny stood up and swayed. Draco put his hands on her shoulders attempting to hold her steady. When the two reached their chambers, they locked the door and looked at each other. Draco stood looking at Ginny, hungrily drinking in her body. He had a few too many drinks at the dance, but he wasn't the only one. Ginny was smashed as well; then again most of the students at the dance were smashed.

Ginny stood in against a wall in the bedroom, watching Draco walk towards her. When he was a foot away, Ginny looked him directly in the eyes. It seemed to take forever before Ginny impatiently stepped forward to close the space. Lips moved against lips, Draco reached down and lifted Ginny's leg around his hips. She jumped, locking both legs around his waist.

Draco leaned her against the wall, their tongues fighting for control. They broke the kiss, panting. The two kicked off their shoes, immediately they went back to kissing. Ginny could barely focus on what was happening, her head was swimming with so many different emotions.

Arms around his neck, Ginny felt Draco walk forward and toss her onto the bed. He removed his dress robe and threw it into a chair, and then he climbed on top of Ginny. Ginny immediately flipped positions so she was straddling Draco. She merely smirked at the surprised expression plastered on Draco's face. Ginny attacked Draco's neck, leaving kisses along his neck. She slowly unbuttoned each button, leaving a kiss on the newly revealed skin. Ginny sat back and inspected Draco's body. Draco watched with lust in his eyes as Ginny reached behind her and slowly unzipped her dress…

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**A/N: Yes, I did have to stop there. I mean, come on, it's a T rated story (:**

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Sunlight filtered in through a crack in the curtains, landing directly on Ginny's sleeping form. She lay curled up asleep wrapped in blankets. A muscular arm was draped over her waist. The arm was attached to a sleeping Draco, who had his face buried in Ginny's hair. Ginny slowly opened her eyes and looked around her for a moment, then she looked down at Draco's arm. Her eyes followed it to where is connected to Draco's naked body. Ginny looked at him confused and then looked down at herself, realizing she was naked as well. Then she looked at Draco, then herself, and back again. Then she screamed.

"AHHHH!"

"Bloody hell! Fucking Merlin, shut up woman!" Draco yelped, having been woken from a dead sleep. He was standing on the side of the bed, clutching his pounding head.

"What the fuck happened last night?!" Ginny shrieked. The room was spinning around her. A moment later her stomach heaved and Ginny lunged for the bathroom. Draco followed her, pulling his boxers on and then reaching to hold Ginny's hair.

Ginny finished emptying her stomach and then sat back. Draco released her hair and stepped away from her to leave the bathroom. Ginny sat leaning against the cabinets taking deep breathes. Her face was a little sweaty. Ginny slowly stood up and turned to the sink, she washed her face and rinsed her mouth. Draco stood leaning against the door.

"I brought you some water." He said as he held out a glass for Ginny.

She took it and drank some before she said, "Thanks, for the water and holding my hair."

Draco nodded and turned on the shower. "In case you didn't figure this out yet, we had sex last night."

Ginny sighed, "Yeah, I figured that out when, you know, I woke up naked."

Draco shrugged and walked out of the bathroom. Ginny shut and locked the door, intent on taking a long, hot shower. She had no classes to teach today, it was Saturday.

After a 45 minute shower, Ginny was beginning to feel better. She wrapped a towel around her body and stepped out of the bathroom. Draco was lying on the bed reading a book on Salamanders. He didn't glance up but asked, "Feeling better?"

Ginny opened the dresser drawers and fished out a new outfit. Before she dropped her towel she pulled on panties and a bra. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a light sweater. Draco, who had obviously showered already, shut his book and got off the bed.

"So," Ginny said as she tugged on socks. "Us having sex—"

"Yeah, what about it?" Draco asked, "What you don't think I'm suddenly in love with you right?"

Ginny scoffed, "Merlin no. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page about it." It was a small lie. _'It's not like you like him, it's just physical attraction.'_ Ginny sat on the edge of the bed tying her shoes. "We should probably head down to breakfast."

"Yea, probably." Draco said. The two headed for the door, Ginny paused to let Draco go first. He looked at her for a minute then turned to the stairs. Ginny felt a funny feeling in her stomach, a lot like butterflies. _'Oh no.'_

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**A/N: You like it? I'd love to hear your opinion. (:**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Absence of Light**

**Chapter 7**

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine, except the plot.**

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"You know, we really should try to find a way back to our time period." Ginny said. She was laying on one of the many couches in their room. Draco was sitting in the comfy chair with his hands between his knees. His shaggy blonde hair shielded his eyes from the world. Ginny rolled over onto her side and looked at Draco with a smile on her face.

"Yeah that's probably a good idea." Draco said with a sigh. Draco looked up to watch Ginny. His eyes roamed the length of her body from her eyes to her thighs. His sight grazed over her chest and across her flat stomach and down her legs. When he reached her face again Draco noticed the blush that had appeared across her face.

Draco cleared his throat and leaned back in the chair. _'Don't even go there Draco.'_ But he couldn't help it. His eyes moved back over to Ginny who was now standing up. Draco stood as well and as Ginny turned to walk away, the blush still clear on her face, Draco grabbed her. He spun her around and looked into her eyes.

"I should not be doing this." Draco muttered.

Ginny nodded, "Yes you should."

"Fuck, yes I should." Draco sighed and put his arms around her waist pulling her close. He kissed her gently; it slowly turned into a heated kiss. Ginny grabbed the front of Draco's robes and pushed him onto the couch. She straddled Draco, continuing to kiss him.

A knock on the door startled the two from their activities. "Professors?" A student's voice called from the other side of the door. "It's Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lu—ouch!"

"I think they can guess who's with us when they open the door Evans." James snapped.

"Don't hit me." Lily growled back at him. Ginny sighed and walked towards the door while straightening out her clothes. Ginny yanked open the door to reveal Sirius and Remus who were rolling their eyes at each other and at Lily and James who were inches away from each other's faces. She cleared her throat and the pair jumped apart. Lily immediately stepped up to the door frame.

"Hello Ginny, Draco." Lily waved to the disgruntled Draco on the couch. "We aren't interrupting you are we?"

"Nope, not at all." Ginny answered stepping to the side and motioning for the students to come in. Draco snorted and Ginny looked at him and giggled softly. "What can we do for you?" Ginny walked over to the couch Draco was on and sat down on the edge, leaving the other couch and chair for the students. Draco sat behind Ginny lazily drawing designs on her bare back sending chills through Ginny.

Lily looked at the boys and sighed, "Professor Binns assigned up a paper about wizards and witches who time travel. For some reason we thought you could help us research since you know, you have a lot of old volumes about a bunch of different things." Lily glanced at the bookshelves that lined the room. "I mean, that entire bookshelf is about time travel."

Ginny's head snapped around to look where Lily was looking. She was right. "Uh, yes that sounds fine. We would love to help you, but we won't be writing the paper for you."

"Of course not!" Sirius snickered.

"Could we start now?" Remus asked quietly. Draco nodded and stood up, wrapping his arms around his "wife".

"Go grab some books and parchment and ink. Then we can start and we can try and help explain some stuff." Draco said, resting his chin on Ginny's shoulder.

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**A/N: Alright, be mad. This was pitiful. BUT (yes I have an excuse) it is just a filler chapter that sets up what will happen. Now I have no excuse for the lateness except that I kept saying "Oh I'll do it when I get home." Yea well I had to think ahead and direct this story the way I wanted it to go.**

**Also I'm starting a new story, I won't post it until I've got a few chapters ready. But if you want stay on the lookout for it. Any new updates about it I will post em here to let you guys know. Thanks for reading this sad little chapter I promise the rest will be better. : /**


	8. Chapter 8

**The Absence of Light**

**Chapter 8**

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine, except the plot.**

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It had been a few weeks since Lily and her friends came to ask Ginny and Draco for help and the group had found out a lot about time travel. Ginny wrote down everything she thought would help her and Draco get back to their time period. Draco had a smile on his face one night as he sat next to Ginny. Ginny looked up at him and said, "What are you smiling about?" The students were spread out around the room writing their papers.

"Look." He murmured with a nod at Lily and James. Lily was bent over her paper nearly finished with it, while James stared at her a loving look on his face.

"He loves her, and he won't even tell her." Ginny said softly, tears forming in her eyes. "I wish we could stop what happens to them."

Draco hushed her, kissing her gently on the forehead. "Honestly, I do too. But you know we can't."

"I know, I know, we could tear a hole in time. I'm aware of it. I just wish we could." Ginny sighed, she rested her head on his shoulder.

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A few hours later as the students were leaving Ginny pressed a piece of paper into James' hand. It was a note she had scribbled to him. The group headed down stairs to dinner. Before the group made it to the Great Hall, Lily and James had disappeared from the group. "It's about time those two hooked up." Sirius grinned. Remus laughed and the two walked to the Gryffindor table. Ginny and Draco sat down at the teachers table.

"Can you believe that it is almost the end of the year? Only a month left. We need to get back." Ginny sighed.

"You know, I kind of like it here. In the past, things were simpler. Sort of." Draco said when the doors burst open and standing there was James and Lily holding hands. James ran towards the nearest table and climbed up on it.

"I've got an announcement!" James yelled over the noise, for once the crowd quieted down for someone other than a teacher. "Me and Lily, we're gettin' married!" The students burst into cheers and applause. Sirius stood up and clapped James on the back and jokingly yelled to Lily, "So? When are you due?"

Lily only laughed and hugged Sirius. Dumbledore stood clapping, the other teachers looked surprised but then followed suit. Ginny was jumping up and down clapping a huge smile on her face. Draco laughed and put and arm around Ginny kissing her deeply.

To Ginny the sounds of cheering dimmed to a quiet hum as she stared into Draco's mercury eyes. There was something there other than the hate she use to see, the friendship she had begun to see, something she hadn't seen in his eyes before. Ginny grabbed onto Draco, pulling him into another kiss that made her head spin. The two broke apart and the cheering suddenly became loud again.

The rest of dinner Ginny thought of nothing but Lily and James wedding and the look in Draco's eyes. When the two of them headed back to their chambers she bounded over to the stack of parchment that she had written myths of time travel on. "Okay, we need to go through these and figure out what we can do for a myth. See which one will really take us back to our time period."

Draco yawned and said, "Maybe we should do the one closest to Hogwarts, you know that tree—bush—thing in the Forbidden Forest?" Ginny nodded and dug through the papers until she pulled out the one with _Venusfidus_ written at the top of the page.

"Okay, so it says the tree, it's a tree sweetie not a bush, is in the middle of the Forbidden Forest. We should leave now if we want to make it there before dark." Ginny said scanning the parchment. Draco quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a button up black shirt, while Ginny changed out of her skirt and into jeans as well.

Ginny and Draco stepped into the hallway looking both ways before sneaking down the hall. After a few minutes of hiding in the shadows from Filch, Draco stopped walking. "Wait, why the hell are we sneaking? We are teachers, we can do what we want." Ginny laughed and agreed. The pair headed out onto the grounds where they were met with a slowly dying sunset. Quickly they ran down the hills, past where Hagrid's hut would be, and into the forest.

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It was much darker under the canopy of the tall trees. Shadows reached across the path in front of Ginny as she climbed over a tree root. Draco followed behind her warily looking into the growing darkness. After an hour of traveling through the forest the two stopped at the top of a large valley. Below them was a stretch of rocks and broken gouges. In the middle of the valley was small stone church. A broken bell tower sat atop the building, a stone well was a few yards away from church door. The two continued down the hill, stumbling over the sharp rocks down to the level the church was on. Ginny started towards the church door, yanking her wand out. Draco followed suit, and lit up his wand as the last of the sun sank below the horizon.

The church door was slightly a jar and it was dark inside. The couple stepped up the three falling apart, stone steps and Draco pushed the door open further. He jumped aside as a unique creature lunged out the door followed by two more of the same species. Ginny let out a small scream of surprise. Draco yanked her out of the way of the animals, pulling her behind him.

After waiting a moment to see if anymore animals exited the building, Draco stepped into the church. It was completely dark except for a single golden light at the other end of the church. "Come on." Draco said softly to Ginny who was examining the wall near the door.

"There are carvings in the wall Draco." Ginny answered, "Pictures of animals and plants. It's telling a story of two lovers. Then the story repeats all over the wall."

Draco grabbed her arm and pulled her away, "Well this is a church, maybe people use to get married here." The two headed down the aisle carefully avoiding the fallen and broken church benches.

They were almost to the golden light when suddenly the light expanded, lighting up the entire church. It revealed an ancient tree. A tree neither of them had seen before. It was almost a weeping willow, but it stood strong like an oak tree. It had green and gold leaves with a gold trunk with a swirl of deep scarlet in it. Glowing near the base of the tree was a short inscription.

Draco and Ginny stood in awe of the tree. "Wow, what a beautiful tree." Ginny smiled. Draco nodded in agreement. "This must be it, Draco. This is the _Venusfidus_!"

"Wait are you sure?" Draco asked.

"Yes I'm sure." Ginny snapped, slightly offended. "I mean for Merlin's sake Draco, it's a big glowing tree! Obviously it's special."

Draco laughed softly and walked towards the tree and looked at the inscription. " 'A blinding leap of faith breaks through.' " He read. Behind them the doors to the church slammed shut and with a loud click locked closed.

"What the fuck is that suppose to mean?" Ginny snarled. Clearly her patience was growing thin. She had cuts all along her arms and legs from climbing through the woods and now she had to sit in a church with a locked door and no key.

Draco and Ginny sat in the stone church for hours attempting different things that could possibly be the answer to the tree's impossible riddle. Ginny's patience was getting thinner and thinner. Finally she broke.

Ginny screamed at the tree and slammed her fist against its trunk. The gold light let out a bright burst of energy and sent Ginny flying backwards into Draco knocking them both down.

"Oh well wasn't that a brilliant idea?" Draco snapped at Ginny. She glared back at him. "Would you like to try hitting it again?"

"I would _love_---"

Suddenly the tree glowed brighter.

"Love, love that's it! That's it?" Ginny exclaimed.

"That's part of it. A blinding leap…" Draco muttered.

"What the fuck does love have to do with time?" Ginny growled ignoring Draco's muttering.

"That's taking a chance…Faith…Faith?"

"You know what? Screw you, you stupid, half-bred tree. Fuck you!" Ginny then proceeded to make a vulgar gesture at the tree.

"Faith, love. Love, a chance with love will break through. Break through what…?"

Ginny continued babbling about the tree fucking itself and how its mother was a whore which is why the tree was half one type and half another.

"Ginny!" Draco exclaimed.

"What?" Ginny asked confused.

"Love with break through. Taking a chance with love with break through time. Love is everlasting! It never dies. That's it, that's the answer to the riddle." Draco grinned.

"Really, if that's the answer then why is nothing happening?" Ginny asked.

Draco paused and suddenly said, "Because no one has taken a chance." Ginny rolled her eyes. Draco looked at her, even cut up and dirty from the trip into the forest she was still beautiful. "Ginny," Draco grabbed Ginny by the waist and said, "Ginny, I love you." The light suddenly grew from gold to scarlet to deep green and then exploded in a bunch of golden sparkles. Draco and Ginny were yanked forward by a sudden gust of wind. The familiar sense of coolness over took them and then once again they were surrounded by darkness.

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A/N: Ah, the story is almost over. ): But you'll see me again, I've got another story I'm writing the first chapter is almost done, its long and the whole story will have only a few chapters but they will be long ones. I hope you enjoyed this so far. Review and tell me what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Absence of Light**

**Chapter 9**

**Disclaimer: None of it is mine, except the plot.**

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With a thud Ginny hit something hard. Opening her eyes she realized it was the ground, grass spread out around her as far as she could see. A warm sun beat down against her back. "Draco?" She coughed.

A hand touched her arm and lifted her up to her feet. Draco stood grinning at Ginny. Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close for a kiss. "I love you too, Draco Malfoy."

"Mr. Malfoy! Miss. Weasley!"

A tall figure was coming towards them from the castle, his robes billowing behind him although there was no breeze. Professor Dumbledore stopped in front of them and spoke, "Come with me. To my office, you have been missing for quite sometime now. You can explain to your family and friends after."

Ginny and Draco couldn't say anything before they were swept away from the grounds up to the castle and on to Dumbledore's office. There Dumbledore sat at his desk and poured himself some tea. "Now, speak."

Ginny and Draco launched into explanation, speaking at the same time.

"Professor---"

"We were reading and the book just sort of---"

"And we ended up back a few years ago---"

"Sirius, James, Lily---"

"Getting married---"

Dumbledore lifted his hand. "I know the whole story. Remember? I was there." His blue eyes twinkled brightly.

"There?" Ginny said and then blinked. "You mean you know---"

"That you are Ginny Kemp and Draco Kemp, husband and wife in love and the new Care of Magical Creatures teachers?" Dumbledore asked, "Why yes, I do. I knew all along." He smiled. "Now, you missed a great deal of this year and instead of making you repeat this year, I'm going to let you pass. Which means Draco you will graduate and Ginny you will be a 7th year next year."

"But sir, we weren't even here for the entire year." Ginny said slowly.

"But you were, in a sense. You were teachers, learning and teaching. Two very valuable skills to have." Dumbledore continued. He smiled at the two, "Take this as a gift and leave. You have a lot of explaining to do."

Ginny and Draco stood up and walked out of Dumbledore's office and headed down the hallway. Clearly word had spread that the Slytherin Sex God was back in the castle for a group of girls had begun following the pair as they walked towards Gryffindor Tower.

"Well, I guess it is back to the way it use to be." Ginny muttered sourly.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked confused.

"You have all these girls following you, why keep me?" Ginny and Draco had stopped in the middle of the hallway with Draco's fan club not far behind.

"Why keep you? Ginny I'm in love with you. Why wouldn't I want to keep you?" Draco answered angrily. He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "I want only you. And yes I'm aware that sounded very bloody sappy."

Ginny laughed and took his face in her hands and kissed him, deeply. Draco trailed his hand down Ginny's arms to her waist where he yanked her against his abs.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?"

Ginny and Draco split in an instant. Ron stood, red in the face, fists clenched, and his eyes trained on Draco. "What the fuck are you doing touching my sister? It's your fault she was missing I bet!"

Ginny stepped in between her brother and Draco. "It is not Draco's fault." Then she began explaining everything that had happened since that night in the library to the tree in the church, minus a few details like her and Draco having sex---multiple times, and once in the dungeons against the wall. Yeah, he didn't need to know about that.

By the time Ginny finished she had repeated the story five times, once for Ron, then Hermione, then Harry, then McGonagall, and then the rest of her family. She was sick of it and wanted to see Draco. But he was still explaining to his house where he had been.

Ginny was laying on her bed with her eyes closed when Hermione found her. "Ginny get up, what are you wearing to graduation?"

"What?" Ginny asked groggily.

"Graduation, it's today." Hermione said, "You forgot? Draco would have been so mad if you weren't there! But wait," Hermione sat on the bed. "Tell me about Draco, how did this even happen?"

Ginny groaned and rolled off the bed and went to her trunk and dug through it. The clothes she had when she was in the past had travelled to the future with her. She smiled and pulled out a dress. "I'm not discussing that with you 'Mione." Ginny inspected the dress it was a light rose pink dress with a cream-colored ribbon around the waist that had a trail down to the length of the dress. Changing into the thigh-length dress and inspected herself.

"What do you think?" Ginny asked.

Hermione smiled, "That looks fantastic, but I hope you are doing something with your hair. Why won't you tell me?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "We are focusing on my appearance. By the way, you look great!" Hermione was wearing a peach colored knee-length dress with her hair straight as a pin with her dress robe clasped with a gold pin.

"Thanks! You should curl your hair." Hermione suggested then did a spell to curl Ginny's hair into tight curls. The two made their way down to the Common Room where Harry and Ron waited with the rest of the 7th years in their graduating colors: red and gold.

"I'm gonna go see if I can find Draco." Ginny said. Ron glared at Ginny; he clearly wasn't over the fact that his worst enemy was dating his little sister.

Ginny headed over to the portrait hole, climbing out. When she pushed the Fat Lady's picture aside she saw Draco standing there patiently in green and silver dress robes. She giggled and ran over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He lifted her up and spun her around.

"I can't believe I'm graduating." Draco said with a smile.

"I know me either, I'm gonna miss you next year." Ginny said softly.

Draco leaned down and kissed Ginny, "Oh you'll see plenty of me, I'm the new Potions Master."

Ginny's face broke into a grin, "Really?!"

"Sure am, and I'll be keeping you after class for lots of detentions." Draco said seductively.

Ginny smirked. "Oh, I'll be bad."

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**A/N: Well that's it, the end. I would love to hear your opinions on it, please do tell me! And stay on the lookout for my new story which is a Hermione and Draco story. I hope you enjoyed the story!  
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**xoxox  
overxthexedge**


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